When I read Galatians, I feel Paul’s frustration.
He is not writing as a distant theologian or an irritated leader.
He is writing like a parent whose children have been tricked and taken in by
something that looks holy but is actually hollow.
And his call is not just to doctrine.
It is a call back to life in the Spirit.
This book is not about rules.
It is about freedom.
It is not about trying harder.
It is about living transformed—from the inside out.
And at the center of that transformation is one of the most beautiful and
convicting passages in all of Paul’s writings:
The Fruit of the Spirit.
The
Conflict Is Real. So Is the Choice.
Paul does not sugarcoat it—there is a war going on
inside us.
“The flesh desires what is against the
Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh…”
(Galatians 5:17)
We are pulled in opposite directions.
The law cannot fix that.
Legalism will not help.
Performing well will not heal that inner divide.
Only walking by the Spirit can.
Paul is not calling us to behavior modification.
He is calling us to yield.
To follow the Spirit’s lead.
To stop living like we are our own and instead live like we belong to Jesus.
The
Fruit Is the Evidence of a Spirit-Led Life
Paul gives us a vivid contrast between the “acts of the
flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit.”
And when I read it, I saw this clearly:
The flesh is chaotic, divisive, damaging.
The Spirit is consistent, healing, whole.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control…” (Galatians 5:22–23)
This is not a to-do list.
This is a portrait of Christ.
Each of these qualities is a reflection of who Jesus is:
- Love that reaches when people do not
deserve it
- Joy that defies hardship
- Peace that steadies the anxious mind
- Patience that endures without snapping
- Kindness that sees people
- Goodness that overflows
- Faithfulness that stays through the storms
- Gentleness that handles fragile things with
grace
- Self-control that says no when everything in
us wants to say yes
This fruit does not come from striving.
It grows when we stay close to the Spirit.
The
Spirit-Led Life Is the Free Life
Galatians makes it clear:
Living by the law binds us.
Living by the Spirit frees us.
Not a reckless freedom, but a rooted one.
Not a life with no boundaries, but a life ruled by love.
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us
keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)
That is my goal now.
Not to impress people.
Not to check religious boxes.
But to walk in rhythm with the Holy Spirit.
To stay in step.
To grow.
To bear fruit.
Let
the Fruit Be the Focus. Let the Spirit Do the Work.
Galatians reminded me that real growth takes yielding,
not performing.
The fruit of the Spirit is not something I can produce on my own.
It is evidence of a life surrendered.
So I ask myself:
- Am I more loving than I used to be?
- Do people feel peace when they are around me?
- Is joy still there when life is not easy?
- Can I be trusted to stay gentle, faithful, and self-controlled?
And if the answer is “not yet,”
I draw closer.
I stay connected.
I let the Spirit do what only He can.
Because I do not want to just look Christian.
I want to bear fruit.